Reuters News recently
reported,
"President Bush said on Wednesday [March 15, 2005] that the U.S.
government's practice of sending packaged news stories to local
television stations was legal and he had no plans to cease it.

"His defense of the
packages, which
are designed to look like television news segments, came after they
were deemed a form of covert propaganda by the Government
Accountability Office watchdog agency.

"GAO, an arm of Congress,
said this
ran counter to appropriation laws and was a misuse of federal funds."

The federal government's
practice of
sending "packaged news" to media outlets began under the Clinton
Administration. President Bush has not only continued the practice, he
has doubled the amount of federal tax dollars that are used for this
purpose, spending $254 million in his first term.

The proliferation of the
Clinton/Bush
"packaged news" policy signals the beginning of the end of a free and
independent media (especially television media) in this country!
Obviously, this does not bode well for the maintenance of liberty.

Knowing the propensity of
national
leaders to mislead people and misrepresent truth, our Founding Fathers
deliberately intended to keep the press free and independent from the
controls and restraints of the federal government. A free press, even a
hostile press, bodes well for freedom. A controlled or propaganda press
does not.

Virtually every repressive
regime of
history was first able to obtain control of the nation's major media
outlets. After all, if one can control the flow of information, he or
she can control the minds and actions of the citizenry. It now appears
that our federal government is beginning to do this very thing.

Have readers noticed how the
same news
stories seem to be carried by the three major networks and by the major
cable networks? Does anyone really believe that this is a coincidence?

What should also be obvious
to any
objective observer is the fact that the major media (with few
exceptions) is even more accommodating of the Bush administration than
it was of the Clinton administration, Bush's supposed conservatism
notwithstanding. The lack of media curiosity and investigative
reporting has become so universal that for all practical purposes it
doesn't even exist!

With very few exceptions,
the major
media simply regurgitates the government's spin on a given issue
without challenge or question. Now we learn that many media outlets are
actually running the federal government's "packaged news" without
revision!

Obviously, the real culprits
in this
story are the media moguls themselves. As with just about everyone else
these days, the only consideration that seems to matter with most media
executives is financial profit. Subsequently, most news departments are
treated like every other department and are expected to turn a profit
by any means necessary. This usually translates to layoffs, streamlined
budgets, and less funding for investigative reporting.

Believe it or not, however,
there was
a time when media executives understood that they fulfilled a crucial
role in protecting freedom and were willing to allow their news
departments to experience financial deficits, if necessary, in order to
challenge "the powers that be" and boldly distribute independent
information. Critical thinking, even innate hostility, toward
government spin doctors is a necessity if liberty is to prevail in any
society.

Also problematic to an
objective and
independent press is the fact that today's media elite come from the
same circle of power from whence come most of our political elite. They
graduate from the same colleges and universities, are members of the
same fraternities and clubs, and share the same group of friends and
business partners.

Beyond that, if one bothers
to look,
he or she will discover that the media and political elite of this
country are joined at the hip when it comes to the social and political
institutions to which they belong. At the national level, most are
members of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and similar
organizations.

Now, before anyone dismisses
the fact
that so many of the political and media elite share membership in the
CFR as meaningless or coincidental, ask yourself this question, "What
if these same people shared membership in the Christian Coalition?
Would anyone view this as meaningless and coincidental?" Hardly.

Another example of the
philosophical
brotherhood shared by "liberals" and "conservatives" in politics (and
in the media) was clearly demonstrated in last year's presidential
election. Both President Bush and Democratic presidential candidate
John Kerry are members of the super-secret Skull and Bones society. If
the media were truly independent and objective, would they not find
this interesting enough to investigate?

Unfortunately, the media are
not the
only ones who refuse to report the facts objectively. "Conservative"
spokesmen such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are every bit as
culpable as the major media in hiding or ignoring the truth.

As a result, there is
precious little
objective, unbiased, investigative reporting going on today! The only
exceptions to this general rule are the Internet and certain (usually
smaller and under-funded) independent talk radio shows.

The problem with the
Internet is that
there is so much speculation, hyperbole, and outright falsehood
floating around that it often requires painstaking work to discover the
truth. The problem with good, objective, independent talk radio
programs is that they are usually only found in smaller markets and
subsist on meager budgets which make it difficult for them to reach
mass audiences.

When it comes to issues
affecting
liberty, both the preacher and the reporter need to be as independent
and truth oriented as is humanly possible. It shouldn't matter whether
a policy is being promoted by a liberal or a conservative, by a
Republican or a Democrat. The only thing that should matter is truth
and what is consistent with America's founding principles.

Unfortunately, it seems that
America's
religious and media leaders have become little more than propagandists
for our political leaders. The Clinton/Bush policy of disseminating
"packaged news" to our nation's media outlets is merely one example of
how our vanguards of liberty have been compromised.

Chuck Baldwin is
Founder-Pastor of
Crossroads Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida. In 1985 the church was
recognized by President Ronald Reagan for its unusual growth and
influence.

Dr. Baldwin is the host of a lively,
hard-hitting syndicated radio talk show on the Genesis Communications
Network called, "Chuck Baldwin Live" This is a daily, one hour long
call-in show in which Dr. Baldwin addresses current event topics from a
conservative Christian point of view. Pastor Baldwin writes weekly
articles on the internet http://www.ChuckBaldwinLive.com and
newspapers.

To learn more about his radio talk
show please visit his web site at: www.chuckbaldwinlive.com.
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